Zia root beer

Background information: There's not much info on this company and their website seems to be mostly non-functional at the time I'm writing this. But from the web, what I'm able to piece together is that they are an "all natural" beverage company specializing in energy drinks.

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Zia Vida LLC, Taos, NM 87571. 148 calories, 39g sugar. Glass bottle with twist off top. www.ziabev.com

Ingredients: Filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, anise, licorice, clove, mint, yucca root, madagascar bourbon vanilla, citric acid.


My thoughts: With the label proudly listing Yucca, licorice & vanilla on the front, I'm not sure what to expect. Looking at the ingredients, we get both anise and licorice, which have a similar taste and could result in a double whammy of the black licorice taste I don't particularly like.

I'll admit, this is a somewhat interesting flavor profile. The typical rooty sassafras taste is a lot weaker than normal, with the mint coming across super strong and drowning out a lot of the other flavors. One of the oddest things is that the main flavor slips away quickly, in a way that I can almost feel it just slide down my throat. I don't know that I've had a sensation quite like it. At first I thought the aftertaste was almost entirely mint, but as I savored the flavors, I began to make out the licorice/anise and the clove came through, with the latter providing a more complex flavor profile than I'm used to tasting. I'm happy to report that the double "black licorice" ingredient list didn't result in a very strong flavor. Throughout the whole experience there's a vanilla presence. I think this would be one stellar root beer if the mint didn't overwhelm everything else quite so thoroughly.

I hate to say it, but when it comes to carbonation this one is a complete and utter fail. There is the barest hint of carbonation, but that's it. It's almost completely flat. In spite of the absence of any effervescent qualities, the yucca root provides a slightly creamy sensation, but there's only so much it can do all by itself, as there are no bubbles to froth things up at all. But not all is lost, as this is one of the best root beers I've come across when it comes to sweetness. It leaves a cleaner feeling in my mouth than usual, but has a proper amount of sweetness to it. I attribute part of this clean feeling to not only the sugar levels, but how quickly the flavor disappears, leaving less of a trace behind.

I'm a bit conflicted on how to rate this. I like the subtle spices they're using but it's so overpowered by mint. The usual rooty flavor you expect is also a little on the weak side and dissipates way too quickly. The overall flavor, mint notwithstanding, is pretty good, but fleeting. I might be able to overlook that quirk, but the near complete absence of carbonation on top of that is a huge disappointment. If they fixed even just the carbonation aspect, I'd be much more likely to cut it some slack, as I like that they aren't just delivering a generic flavor profile, but have a bit more interesting spice mix. In its current state, however, it's very hard to recommend.

Rating: C-
flavor: B+
aftertaste: A-
sweetness: A+
smoothness: B
carbonation: F-